Luann by Greg Evans and Karen Evans for January 27, 2022

Grit Barn? Isn’t Grits always plural, while grit is the dirt that get into gears.

ZING!!

lucky girls

Burn! ✨

Still with the girls. Wish we’d get mote than two panels of this little tête-à-tête!

Wow, Head Cheerleader Stefani Bird dating the quarterback. An accomplishment not made by Tiffany Farrell in High School.

Oxford, the Ox was the best Defensive Tackle in the High School Division!

I love how since Stef and Kip entered Cafe Kablooie, every other customer seems to have disappeared.

TJ and Leslie Knox are missing from this week’s storyline?

Oh, where is Alanis Morissette when you need her?

Acting!

So far Tiff has been on point but restrained. When do the knives come out???

This needs to go somewhere and it isn’t there yet.

Tiff she was trying to bait you and you did not fall for it. That’s progress.

Tiffany seems to have mastered the art of throwing shade.

I’m glad to see Tiffany holding her own here.

Stefi? Head cheerleader is a promotion over a server job? REALLY? You’ve got your priorities messed up. You’re mentally and emotionally still in high school. Even in high school, they have head cheerleaders. Looks like Tiffany was one. Now she works for a living and earns a living wage. She has grown while you have regressed.

Tiff is seeing her worst self in this young woman…

Seeing is believing, Tiff, so show her your tips! And no need to rub her face in them — just give her a quick peek and flash those tips!

What’s that dear? Oh no… two 5¢ coins were stolen from your tip jar? Somebody actually reached in and pinched your nickels? The nerve…

Steffi: “Oh, Tiff, you would not believe Kip’s tip…”

Tiffany is definitely more than holding her own

Will Tiff’s acting chops score a tip from Stef? Doubtful. Go for the jugular, Tiff!

These two are great at being uncivilly civil.

Tiff can hold her own!

Tif still refuses to take the bait. She must be learning from all the adversity. Go, girl.

Has Stef met her match?

Slam dunk, Tiff!!!

And we know she won’t be getting any money from Miss Head Cheerleader

“And, by the way, there’s a name for you ladies, but it’s not used in high society – outside a kennel!”

~Joan Crawford, “The Women” (1939)

Last few days there were many comments about sexy outfits – and nobody really looked sexy.

Does anybody read the Blondie strip?B/ondie is one of the sexiest toon babes.

Incredible boobs, always worth looking at. And, her knee length skirts are always semi-transparent.Usually accentuating her nice thighs and cute ass. Occasionally a hint of vigina.

Dagwood doesn’t deserve this.

They both think they are better than the other. But the one who has really made progress is Tiffany. Stef is obsessed with being a cheerleader and she thinks low of anyone who isn’t one of them. It gives me great happiness to see that Tiffany doesn’t seem to regret not being a cheerleader anymore.

Tiff: Care for aperitif?

Stef: How insulting. I don’t need dentures.

I think it’s wonderful that Tiffany is getting a glimpse of what she used to be via Stef.

I never thought I would see the day that Tiffany is the smartest character in the panel!

One has indeed progressed. One is a working, productive member of society, while the other is not only too dense to realize she’s being insulted, she acts like she’s too stupid to pour pee out of a boot if the instructions were written on the heel.

The “Grit Barn”? Sheesh … could we use some other stereotypes, please? Hopefully she’s got a mee-maw and is barefoot, too.

Gotta feeling this arc will end very well—for Tiff!!

Who is saving for her own business someday. What’s your long game, Steff – Kip?

Hey! You wanna go out and split a grit?

Did it just get colder in here?

If Stef was a server, she should know better than to make her server angry. Don’t tick off people who’ll be handling your food where you can’t see what they’re doing to it.

Tiff, before you write her order, jam your pencil in her eye.

Keep Stef talking, Tiff.

The more she talks, more cracks appear in her imaginary armor.

Perhaps she’d like a complimentary bottle of wine from the bar? ;-)

The Evans just cannot let go of using cheerleaders as villains, can they?

Stef is still acting blonde. Wonder when Tiff will hit her with a “wet rag” and she gets clued in.

Isn’t life ironic? Poor Stef is dying to be envied by Tiffany. So glad Tiffany did not fall for that and turned it around on her nicely.

Tiffany is trying to get word out there for her potential as a plus sized supermodel. This job helps her earn money for it.

You know I think I approach Luann and Luannverse as a “riffer” which means I riff along with story like I would a musical piece. I find it, for me anyway, to be better than a reconstructive approach, trying to change or interpret it the way I see it or the way I think it should be. To each their own though. Reconstruct away! I’ll keep riffing.

I had to re-read the last panel, because at first, I didn’t read “tips.”

Yep, this solidifies it — Stef is someone stuck in a high school mentality. Entire life focused on being the cool kid. Cheerleading isn’t a lucrative career path. At her level, you have to pay for the privilege, and even the professional cheerleaders in the NFL are barely paid enough to cover their expenses.

Stef , clueless idiot. She just doesn’t know when to quit when she’s so far behind.

Tiffany has definitely gotten more clever than she was in high school.

I want to see the Grit Barn menu…

Touche!

I always wondered what BFFs talked about when together.

2 zeros

Or..“.yeah, I work and am a productive, responsible member of society!”

Where does Stef carry her money?

Head Cheerleader….Lipstick is smeared….

And Stef replies: “you wouldn’t believe my tips.”

The Grit Barn: remind me to never eat there, blech.

I like the way these two are having a conversation from two completely different viewpoints….and one of them is not noticing.

It’s funny. They really are both students pursuing a college degree. Cheerleading is transitory, as is presumably the gig at the Fuse. Neither defines who these two are.

Far from the “Madding” Crowd ?

If you worked at the Grit Barn in high school, you just might be a …….eh, nevermind.

Zing!! Tiffany’s on a roll, but nicely done, not confrontational….yet. She wants a nice tip. Wonder if Steff will want a discount! Will Kip be joining her? Hmmmmm

Cafe Kablooie will merge with Grit Barn in a hostile takeover sending the stock price to record highs!

Wonder if the cheerleader outfit comes in a pregnancy design. Does she expect to be a cheerleader forever? She’s so wrapped up in herself with no future plan?

Waiting for when Kip and Stef can’t pay for their meal. It will be the moment when Stef turns to Tiffany and says “you’ll just take care of that for us, huh Shoog?”…..should be EPIC!!

In days of yore Tiffany had few to no redeeming qualities. She might seem a mite flawed even now, but she is presented as greatly improved.

Does Stef even understand she is being insulted?

Tiffany at her worst was never as annoying as Stef. And what of backwoods inbred hole-in-the-wall diner would a Grit Barn be.

Actually not knocked out by either of these girls. Tiff just seems to have become a tool for capitalism who has gotten the message that making money is the only game worth playing in this country. That means that low payed professions such as teaching, ahem, Luann, really are not worth pursuing or useful unless monetized (not true). Steph is insecure and annoying, but she does have the financial freedom presumably via cheer scholarship, to pursue her own ambitions regardless of others judgment of them. I kind of respect that. I think part of the problem is this strip lives in some weird time bubble were there is still a strong middle class that doesn’t pay there teachers in food stamps and student loans are not a thing. That isn’t the world we live in anymore and any college kid knows that, so characters like Luann start to look very dated.

It all depends on your priorities. Do cheerleaders get paid, or is it all for exposure? Waiting to be discovered by a talent agent. The cheerleaders for an NFL team went on strike. So, the team went on to play without the cheerleaders. That was one short strike.

Tiff seems to have matured…

Game, Set, and Match – Tiffany.

Gunth has seen tiff’s tip’s and he believes.

GRITS BARN is probably something like The Cracker Barrel eateries.Don’t knock grits.Think of them as oatmeal with cheese.

Just cuz they ain’t up North don’t mean people don’t like em’.Steffi’s best hope is a one-way bus ticket to Dallas.

Ok, now I’m actually starting to like Tiff…

Not sure I’d call it “progression” there, Stef. Don’t get me wrong, I agree that cheerleading is a tough sport and the people who do it in real life (as opposed to fiction like this strip, where it’s merely a uniform to indicate b&tchiness) are worthy of respect.

But the fact is, what’re the career opportunities there? Cheerleaders for pro sports teams get paid and treated like absolute garbage. It’s essentially a volunteer gig that still demands a huge commitment for very little benefit. Why would someone want to waste their time with it outside of a school setting?

If they’re trying to redeem Tiffany, Stef sure is a great way to do it.

If you’re an adult and your biggest accomplishment is “head cheerleader” that’s not good.

I wonder if we’re due to return to Bets and Gunther next week?

How can you tell she’s the "Head Cheerleader?’

She’s got dirty knees.

One serious injury, one torn tendon, would shatter Stereotype’s little world. There’s a possible plot turn. You’re welcome Evanses. And then there’s Stereotype’s wardrobe. You would think that constant outfit would make her a social pariah, at best, in the real world.

“(♪♪) Server Girl, Server Girl, My Little Server Girl”

“True Grits”

“Well, That’s ‘Progressed’!”

I couldn’t find my comment, maybe it was done as a reply, so here goes again: Alright, I am beginning to believe that Staph really is Evil Anne Eiffel Jr.! Staph Eiffel, sent by Anne Eiffel, to fill in for her to aggravate Tiff!

Probably too late to leave a comment, but I just noticed how manipulative, Steff’s rhetorical “huh” at the end of her statements is. It’s a brief version of that old classic, “Don’t you agree?” or “Right?” One might gracefully ignore a person’s remark otherwise, but that little hook at the end puts you on the spot to either become complicit in the nonsense with a vague “Mmmm”, or verbally object in a way where you can’t help but look bad doing it.

I think Tiffany handled it perfectly with “malicious agreement”. Sometimes you have to resort to that.

My ex used to make 500 a night in tips when she was a bartender.

Lets see a girl fight!

This arc is better than some of the garbage I’ve been getting in other comics, at least.

Someone here is closer to being a grown-up.

She shoots! She scores! Tiffany is definitely in The Zone in this arc, folks. Stef doesn’t even know what hit her….

That was a pretty good snarky comeback from Tiff.

Greg, I gotta say that I’m really enjoying Tiffany now after many years of not liking her! ❤️

I love these twos interactions

Ha

All the guys love her tips